Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden

The Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden is the oldest university botanical garden in South Africa, on a site the university has used since 1922. It is small and walkable, laid out around South African biomes, medicinal plants and research collections, with four glasshouses holding species that will not grow in the local climate and three of them open to visitors. A cafe and a shop sit inside the garden, and it opens every day of the year bar a couple of public holidays.

The Botanical Garden is the quietest thing in central Stellenbosch and one of the easiest to fit into a day. It is compact enough to walk in under an hour, and it is arranged to teach rather than simply to look pretty: sections set out South African biomes, medicinal plants and the university’s research collections, with labels that explain what you are standing in front of. Four glasshouses hold what the Stellenbosch climate will not support, three of them open to visitors, and the tropical house is the one most people remember. There is a cafe under the trees and a small shop. It opens every day of the year with two exceptions, which makes it a reliable first or last stop when the rest of a Winelands day is built around bookings.

Highlights

The oldest university botanical garden in South Africa, on its present site since 1922
Four glasshouses of species the local climate will not support, three of them open to visitors
Collections arranged around South African biomes, medicinal plants and university research

Highlights

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